Recap Twitter Spaces: Brand Collaboration in the NFT and Metaverse Space
Published 11th April 2023 by MSV Team
In the past two years, we have seen a rise in NFT and Metaverse projects within the Web3 space. With that, mainstream adoption from big Web2 fashion, tech, and consumer brands has taken an interest in how they can enter the metaverse or start their own NFT collection. Globally known brands like Dolce&Gabanna, Nike, Diesel, Porsche, and so forth have all entered the Web3 ecosystem already. To dive deeper into this topic, we spoke to - Shashi Menon, CEO & Co-founder of UNXD; Travis Wu, Co-founder & CEO of Highstreet; and Bartek Sibiga, Co-founder & CEO of Fancy Bears, on Brand Collaborations in the NFT and Metaverse Space.
For everyone who missed the Live Twitter Spaces on Thursday, April 6th, we have summarized the top 5 key takeaways from the session. You can also listen to the entire live recording in the link below.
🎙Listen to the full Recording 🎙
Top 5 Key Takeaways
1. Mainstream Brands recognize the potential of entering Web3 and crypto.
To kick off the Twitter Spaces, we asked our guests why brands are entering Web3. All three guests agreed that for a mainstream brand to enter Web3, six different areas of success can be achieved when entered correctly:
- Commercial success
- Positioning success
- Marketing success
- Access to new audiences
- Exploration of new products
- New ways to engage with existing audiences
In order for a brand to successfully enter the space, however, it needs to think long-term. It is not about following the hype of coming in for a start-to-finish campaign to tick off the fact that a brand has done an NFT collection; to really make sure that there is a strong result, it needs to be sustainable for the long run. Furthermore, brands don’t want to underestimate the power of technology. Brands are looking for that new “e-commerce” innovation we saw many years ago and want to make sure that it is part of their business plan.
On the other hand, one of the reasons why brands are not joining Web3 is because of the risk it might bring. Specifically, dropping an NFT collection might be risky, and the brand might not know enough about it. In the end, there is still a way to go for brands to enter Web3 fully.
2. The Metaverse will change the way we shop but won’t replace e-commerce and brick-mortar – it will be complementary
A new generation of people is going to be heading to the metaverse to experience a place where tech meets fashion. For example, they can own a sweater that will keep them warm in real life, but they will own that same digital twin sweater in the metaverse that can act as a piece of armor for their avatar. It will change how people shop and open up another channel rather than replace e-commerce and other ways of shopping.
What is crucial is not to miss the social experience of shopping. At the moment, the metaverse can still be a bit lonely for some; in the future, it would be great to see a bigger community around digital and physical shopping that allows for more interaction.
3. Culture and storytelling are key to bringing brands' physical experience to digital
Storytelling is a key element in traditional brands. It’s what makes houses create a community and strong brand loyalty. When launching a successful digital collection with a brand that has very strong and longstanding values, provenance, digital and physical craftsmanship, multiplatform consumer experiences, storytelling, and community are all key drivers. With these drivers, brands will be able to tell their physical brand story in the digital world. Intimate experiences that are mainly human-led can be replicated and bridged to the digital world in the future if the collaborations focus on making that a priority in the metaverse.
4. The community needs to be put at the forefront
It will be difficult for mainstream brands to figure out how to create a new type of community around their digital NFT collections. Especially with luxury brands with years of heritage and an enate customer base., trying to create a new community or a new type of digital savviness around the existing community will be key.
5. There are not enough real-world use cases yet for digital brand success
One thing that has held back digital fashion is that there are not enough successful use cases yet. The technology is very forward-looking, but the culture (the real-life use case) is not yet there. The gaming side can actually be the opportunity to bring forth digital use cases for the brand element. Digital and physical experience need more use cases.
Especially with fashion, some things make fashion more personal, like the physical elements that technology is not yet able to create. But gaming is a potential place, and the metaverse is what is going to make fashion and clothing really exciting things again. The utility in the virtual world where you can challenge physics is what is going to be separating from the physical. To have a digital product that looks exactly like the physical is not a strong utility.
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Thanks again to your great panel of guests for such an insightful conversation. We host Roundtables and Live Podcasts via Twitter Spaces every week with great and inspiring people from all around the crypto space. If you want to ensure you don’t miss the next one, follow us on Twitter to set your next reminder.